My X100 overexposed for no good reason?!

Just spoke to the fujifilm customer service rep, and he was saying they're now seeing quite a lot of them with the sticky blades issue. He also said they've received a large shipment of replacement lenses from fujifilm Japan, but the parent company is tight lipped on wether they will fix the problem for good.

Also, once the camera is repaired the warrantee is NOT reset, and at this point fujifilm won't be doing free out of warrantee repairs on x100's - even for the sticky aperture blades - which really gets under my skin a bit!

The guy I talked to was very honest and helpful though. Now I just got to decide wether I should return the camera to Michaels camera for a refund or for a replacement, or if I should just go directly through fujifilm.
 
I had this problem within a few days of purchase in the UK. I took several shots of the same scene at f8 using aperture priority and all of them were exposed differently. Most were 2-3 stops over exposed. The lens was replaced and it works fine now.
 
I work at a camera store, and can tell you for certain that Fuji will have purolator pick it up at their cost, fix it with their platinum service, and ship it back by purolator (at least in Canada) US and UK might be different shipping options, but the service is the same, as put forth by the Japanese fuji overlords 😉
 
Adanac said:
I'm about 95% certain that had I run into this thread *before* buying the camera, I would still have bought the X100. The only thing that might have changed my mind is the uncertainty introduced by a poster above (but not confirmed as yet) regarding servicing a camera that should be still under warranty but is owned by a second (or third...) owner. While I tend to keep my cameras a long time and rarely buy a dud I want to pass on to others, it is comforting to know that selling a camera won't be hobbled by warranty concerns.

Fujifilm clearly intends to be in this market genre, so they have much more to lose by not addressing head on such problems. Indeed their pre-sales but more importantly their post-sales literature stresses service. Every user story regarding this issue has so far resulted in a positive outcome and happy camera owners -- so why would they screw that up?

Looking at currently shipping products from all makers, near this price point there really is nothing else I would want to buy.

Stuff happens in manufacturing; at this point it looks like a one-off problem, one which Fujifilm no doubt has already learned from and corrected. If one is comfortable with that assumption (I am) then there is little risk in buying the product(s).
Click to expand...

A few posts ago you were ready to publicly trash Fuji's reputation and swearing never to buy another Fuji product. What did you do - take a Valium?
 
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Turtle said:
hmmm. I just ordered one and I will get my hands on it a week from now. It sounds like I can expect trouble...
Click to expand...

If you have realistic expectations for what it can do, you'll adore it. It's seriously the best camera thats come out since digital started. Just every week run it through the aperture and make sure it's stopping down correctly. If there's any problems you'll see it straight away and you'll be able to get it fixed or get a new one. I just got my faulty one replaced with one from a newer batch - no questions asked. I'll keep an eye on the new one.

Apparently fujifilm has been shipping new/improved lens units to all the service centers that are meant to fix any problems for good, and turnaround is prioritized for x100's, so it's only taking 2-3 days to fix them.
 
Gavin, that's good to hear (quick repairs etc). I am confident I will be thrilled with the camera, just don't want to find I have a problem on day three of ninety in Afghanistan because I will not be able to get the camera back until the end.

Is there any way of telling if your camera comes from the affected batches?

Its the first digital camera I am looking forward to getting my hands on. My 5D II was a fairly 'business' relationship and I was glad to have it but not excited. The X100 I'm hoping to have a lot of fun with.
 
Okay so it looks like camera number two has sticky aperture blades after 210 exposures.
I've got to do some more testing to confirm, but seriously... I think Fuji may have a problem on their hands.

Turtle, I urge you to thoroughly test your x100 and put at least 1200-1500 exposures on it before you take it anywhere of importance and rely on it. As I said it's a wonderful camera but you don't want to be only able to shoot it at f2 because of sticky blades.
 
By the way, the way I've been testing is to chuck the camera on JPEG, auto dynamic range OFF, auto ISO OFF, aperture priority, on a tripod indoors (so the lighting stays constant) and rack through the apertures starting at f2 going through to f16. Double check that the shutter speed halves every time you stop down, and if the resulting photos get brighter and brighter to the point of being overexposed past f4, you have yourself a problem.

I'd seriously urge everyone to do this...
 
It's a lot easier than that to test. Just run down the aperture settings while looking at the front of the lens and taking pictures of a scene over your shoulder. It's perfectly obvious whether it is stopping down correctly - you can SEE it.

I have one of the pre-quake ones from March. Never had a day's trouble with it.
 
I emailed fujifilm about the issue, and got this reply:

I apologise that you have had this problem with your camera however i can
advise you Any camera returned, and diagnosed with aperture blade issue,
will be repaired with a new lens unit at Fujifilm Australia that does not
have the same issue. We have recently received stock of replacement lens
units from Fujifilm Japan to assist us in dealing with this issue as they
arise.
Click to expand...

Once I send it in to fujifilm to be fixed I can't take it back to the dealer for a refund anymore... Hmmm...
 
Same thing happened to me with a Nikon 55-200mm zoom. Wicked over exposure (I was shooting at around f/11). Took a while to figure out that it was the blades not closing down.

Suggestion: If you experience radical overexposure, shoot one wide open and one at f/16. This will show if you have the blades-not-closing problem.
 
I got the "sticky apparature blade" issue and sent my camera in for repair at Fuji Sweden. Got it back very quickly and the have replaced the whole lens with a new lens that apparently should not have the same problem. My camera was one of the first to be shipped to Sweden so I guess this is a typical "first batch" type of problem... JonR
 
I'm going to give mine loads of use as I get to know the camera and try to ensure that I have 1000 or more exposures on it before two weeks prior to departure, to ensure I can send it in for repair is needed. It might be the only digital I take with me (the rest being film) so want to be confident it will be OK.
 
Damn, that's gotta be a major pain in the ass!! I'm about to take delivery of mine. I'm glad to see Edison is close enough to where I live near Philly to drive up and wait for it while they fix it 😀
 
So, I called Fuji and told them the aperture is sticking -- again. They looked up the history of the camera and said it looks like they didn't actually replace the lens unit the first time around. Representative said they probably didn't reproduce the issue, so didn't bother with the replacement. This time, they'll definitely replace the lens unit, quoth he. Of course, since the repair paperwork they returned with my camera last time clearly states "replaced lens unit", I'm not sure how I'll know this time either.... :/ Maybe I should discreetly mark the lens somewhere with a sharpie.

Ari
 
Mine has the serial number starting with 13M0, and it was sent in for the same problem. Took two weeks for them to "replace lens assembly".
 
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